Yes, replace police with unarmed community based responders for non-violent calls

crime is crime, if it were legal and peaceful it would be an argument that wouldn't require police, if police are called there is usually a reason. It can escalate quickly.

More time effort and funding needs to put into developing a strong police force that is capable of achieving a lawful society. Bring back community cops to create a sense of pride and respect in our police, rather than a community based responder with no ties to the force.

Police are an essential part of a healthy community, unarmed community based responders cannot be monitored and are too unpredictable.

Non violent is still a Police job that they are trained to deal with and have the appropriate powers to respond

Police should have the resources to be able to police all parts of communities no matter what the situation of crime is.

No. The police are needed to fight escalating crime. Non violent crime can quickly escalate and become violent.

That's all well and good, but if the offenders have weapons already, how will you de-escalate the situation? Especially if the community based responders don't have the appropriate training to deal with unreasonable people.

In my opinion Defunding the police would be the stupidest possible thing. We have had so many violent terrorist attacks which have left to a lot of fatalities and unfortunately I just don’t believe in it. It’s the same as saying “oh yea I’m going to defund the military” because that’s such a smart thing to do in instance to an invasion. New Zealand’s gun laws are strict, however, they aren’t strict enough and if we were to defund the police they would not be able to neutralise a significant firearms threat without calling in the military which…  Read more is just dumb because the military is meant to be protecting our coasts, sky’s, and helping out with things internationally. Additionally, the military would be incredibly slow at responding to a firearms threat because they have so many other issues that they are dealing with. Think of it like this, if the USA defunded its police and made unarmed volunteers, how the freakin heck would they stop a bunch of armed suspects with AK-47s and what not, like it’s practically impossible for them because there gun laws are pretty much non existent.

Non-violent calls is a straw man argument, as a serving police officer almost every emergency call has the potential to escalate into a situation that requires use of force to keep people safe.
Any unarmed community response team would need to be capable of an armed, forceful response simply for their safety

No. Fund the Police and increase the numbers. The country needs more police to stop increasing gang numbers.

A non-violent call can quickly turn violent within seconds people are unpredictable and it's always good to be safe.

Impossible to know if a call is "non-violent" due to ready access to firearms by criminals including gangs.

Community based responders are not trained like police and there is a risk that they would or could be injured in the kind of de escalation tactics required to work with criminals

The current crime levels shows that this sift on crime labour government has failed. Replacing police would be a nightmare.

No, The police need more money and not to be defunded. More support for Drug addiction to help reform and not imprison. Mental health services need to be able to help with drugs too because they are so closely linked on the streets and mental health services won’t go near people with drug addictions or people on drugs.

This could happen as well as Police but not replace police. Police are required to most jobs they are called to. This would result in the community based responders calling for Police assistance.

Wrap around support services post police attendance have been clearly shown to not work or be effective for many offenders that refuse to see the error in their ways. Removing police response for non violet crimes inherently increases the risks to victims of volume crime, domestic violence and dishonesty offending. Regardless of individual feelings about police they are essential to our communities. Many communities already have a strong school, community and youth aid police team. All of which provide support in ways the public wouldn’t hear about.

That is stupid and has to be the worst idea I have ever heard. Why would we willingly go back a few hundred years, I just simply don’t understand why you would ask such a stupid question, there must always be order and chaos not just chaos. Cheers

Cool. Let criminals get away with more **** !
No wonder why everyone is moving overseas. This country is absolute bull **** .

Seems unsafe. This will bring charges for fighting.

Would a criminal listen to a community Responder?

While the intention behind using unarmed community-based responders for non-violent calls is commendable, it raises concerns about safety and effectiveness. There's an inherent unpredictability in many situations; what starts as a non-violent call can escalate rapidly. Trained police officers have the knowledge, tools, and backup systems in place to handle unexpected turns of events. By sending unarmed responders, we might be putting those individuals at risk and could potentially delay necessary interventions if situations escalate. Furthermore, the distinction between violent and non-violent calls is not always clear-cut in real-time. Implementing such a system would require robust training and support mechanisms to ensure the safety of both the responders and the community.

No, how can you possibly guarantee that any phone call to 911 is definitely not going to get violent? This being said maybe increase Police training in this area.

Is this not just an example of locals being upstanders rather than bystanders - also how are we going to regulate and ensue all communities are using the same standards or guidelines on When it Is appropriate or not for police to step in. How do we detune a "non-violent" call?

Like they are now :-)

Non violent doesn't mean people's safety is not in danger. Enforcement of compliance needs to be an option for everyone's safety.